Shadow Slave: Arcadius of the Forgotten

Cade was sitting on the cold coral-strewn floor on the edge of a clearing littered with Scavenger corpses. He was panting, his back resting against a particularly large piece of coral coming out of the ground. 

There had been about fifteen to twenty Scavengers gathered in this clearing and he had been led to them by the Crimson Guide. Wearing the Coral Relic, he had gotten close enough to slay three of them. That was when the others had been alerted of his presence, and he had been forced to call upon his Darkness. 

Cade had been reluctant to use his Aspect Ability ever since his experience with the trio. He'd been afraid that the rage would overwhelm him this time as well, and he would be forced to do something stupid. However, his worries had been for naught. 

He hadn't called upon that much of his Darkness, but he had breathed out a significant amount of it. The rage had come but it was nowhere near as debilitating as it had been yesterday. That could also be attributed to the charm resting against his chest. The Tidemark Whisper had also proven to be sort of helpful in controlling his Flaw, albeit not much. 

Well, it's to be expected, Cade mused. The fact that it can even slightly help is already a ridiculous feat considering its Rank and Tier. 

As a result, he had managed to retain his sanity somewhat, while facing the Scavengers. Today, he'd not been the least bit afraid while facing the horde of Awakened Beasts. So, his Innate Ability hadn't been much useful. Still, a couple of Scavengers had fled from the embrace of his Darkness. 

He wasn't exactly sure how many he had killed, but he was about to find out. He got up and picked the Voidfang up from where it had been resting to his side. The black blade was laced with azure blood, so, he gave it wide swing to shake off the blood and began to harvest the soul shards. 

Apparently, he had managed to kill sixteen Scavengers in the clearing today. So, after shattering the soul shards and absorbing the fragments, he decided to take a look at his runes: 

[Soul Fragments: 173/1000] 

He smiled. He was getting closer and closer to forming his Monster core, and that filled him with joy. He moved his gaze to the counter representing his Darkness: 

[Darkness Saturation: 88%] 

Good enough, he thought. I only lost one percent today. I'm getting better at controlling this Ability... when I'm only surrounded by Nightmare Creatures, at least.

Cade had come to the conclusion that his rage had become almost uncontrollable yesterday because he had been in close proximity with humans back then. He didn't really understand why that should change the effect of his Flaw, but apparently, it did.

The Nightmare Creatures didn't seem to warrant much of his anger when he used his Ability. However, humans seemed to be the determined recipients of his Flawed rage. As to why that was, Cade had no idea. 

Cade decided not to think about that for now. He didn't have a single lead as to why his Flaw was so strange and oddly specific regarding its effect on him. So, it was no use lingering on it for too long. He was still gazing at the Darkness counter of his runes. 

Hmmm, he thought, rubbing his chin. I hope the reserves will swell when I've fully saturated my Darkness reserves. I've still got a long way to go before I become a Monster and I wanna attempt the Echo Infusion as soon as I get another Echo. I won't do it if it requires a hundred percent of my Darkness, but if it's fifty or something, I won't mind. I guess I better get to work then... 

Finally, he decided to take a look at his Memories. Since descending the coral branch, he hadn't managed figure out anything about the Pearl of Breaking Tides. The blue orb seemed to be utterly useless. So, growing tired of the futile effort, he'd simply just dismissed it earlier. He was plenty happy and satisfied with the Tidemark Whisper anyway.

He wasn't really hopeful for any new Memories because he'd gotten three just yesterday, but he decided to check anyway. While fighting and killing, surrounded by his Darkness, he was never really able to register the Spell's voice. In his bubble of Darkness, the Spell was but a distant whisper, too insignificant to be paid attention to.

Who knows? he joked to himself. I might just get too lucky... 

Memories: [Arcane Keyst...], ..., [...mark Whisper], [Drowned Eye]. 

Cade let out a hoarse laugh. I guess I am lucky after all, he thought to himself. Then, he focused on his newest Memory: 

Memory: [Drowned Eye]. 

Memory Rank: Awakened. 

Memory Type: Tool. 

Memory Description: [They sought the light of the distant shores. All they found was the cold gaze of the deep. What good is vision when the dark refuses to part? It is a curse to see so far but walk no closer.] 

Huh, he thought, frowning slightly. What is that all about? Then, without wasting any time, he summoned the Memory. 

A spyglass crafted from pearlescent coral wove into his hand. Its body swirled with hues of seafoam green and deep azure. 

Cade's eyes widened slightly, as he gripped the miniature telescope a little tighter.

This is awesome, he thought, overjoyed. This will be perfect to help me keep an eye on those three when I'm following them from a distance. I wonder how far it can see. I'll test it at the camp tonight. It's getting late anyway. 

He quickly dismissed the Drowned Eye, and started toward the coral branch. It really was getting quite late. 

He reached the branch at just the right time. The sun was about to set, and the Dark Sea was almost upon him. Upon reaching the coral pillar, he climbed to the familiar spot lined with seaweed and looked in the direction of the Knight's statue. 

Then, he summoned the Drowned Eye. Let's see how good you are, he mused before pointing it in the direction of the statue and looking through the eyepiece with his left eye. 

He almost jumped back in bewilderment.

It was like... like he was right there, standing on top of the stump of the Knight's severed head.

He looked around and saw Nephis, Sunny and Cassie sitting in the center of the circular stone platform. They were just sitting there and chewing on strips of dried meat, passing a bottle around, which Cade deduced to be the Endless Spring.

They had obviously reached the statue quite a while ago. Which meant that their journey had not been hindered but rather, it had been sped up. 

"Damn..." Cade whispered on top of the coral branch. "This is gonna be very useful." 

He 'moved' a little on the circular stone platform, which was weird, considering that he wasn't actually there. He stopped to look at Cassie's face and leaned down a little to observe her more closely. 

Cassie was dressed in a simple tunic, with leather sandals on her feet, and a cloak the color of sea waves draped around her shoulders. She was drinking the water greedily out of the Endless Spring, a single strip of dried meat held in her right hand.

The blind girl was every bit as beautiful as she had been back at the Academy. Even more so, in fact, because she had absorbed a few soul shards. 

Cade found himself smiling as he stared at her, his heart warming slightly at the sight of the delicate and beautiful blind girl's face.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, princess..." he whispered lightly back on the coral branch. Cassie didn't respond. Of course, she didn't, Cade thought, shaking his head slightly. I'm not really here, am I? 

However, as he was staring at Cassie's pretty face, he was suddenly pulled back and he found himself back at his makeshift camp again. The Drowned Eye was held away from his left eye. 

I guess it has a time-limit, huh? he thought, disappointed and also a little annoyed that he hadn't gotten to look at Cassie a bit longer. Wait... I'm not acting like a creep, am I? No. No, I'm not. She was dressed modestly and I just kind of missed seeing her face, that's all. Anyway, this thing is pretty awesome. Sometimes, the Spell is quite considerate, the damned thing... 

He didn't try to look through the spyglass again. He was doubtful that it could be used indefinitely, so, he figured that it would be best if he used it only in case of emergencies.

Or when he felt like seeing Cassie's face. Which was sadly every other minute these days. But he decided to control himself. He would have plenty of time to stare her down when they safely returned to the Waking World.